Sitting at home on Sunday morning I was wondering what I could write about for this week’s issue of Rye News. Finding stories isn’t always easy but at this time of year there is plenty going on so there is lots of festive material around but I wanted to see what was important to people other than the Christmas festivities and all that entails. In my quest for inspiration I came upon a post on the website Nextdoor, posted by Julie Ann O’Kane-Gill from Shadoxhurst.
It was a poem, written by New Romney resident Darren Christian which struck a chord with me and which I felt might strike a chord with you too. There was a request on Julie’s post to post this poem to as many news outlets as possible, so here it is.
Waiting in corridors, people sick in a bed,
Some not so poorly, some look half dead.
Doctors and Nurses all rushed off their feet
Clocking more miles than a professional athlete.
Angry guy at reception, thinks he’s fractured his arm,
Screaming “get me seen now and then I’ll keep calm.”
“The staff are all busy” is the receptionists answer,
“Trying to save a man’s life who’s dying from cancer.”
The girl who’s hungover after way too much wine,
Could’ve just slept it off and she would have been fine,
But you came to emergency as you felt you were dying,
Now the really ill wait for the bed you’re occupying.
People’s tempers are fraying, after hours of waiting,
Patients slagging off staff, who can hear all the slating,
But they turn a deaf ear, as they have work to do,
Carry on with a smile as they look after you.
A mother says they should hang their heads in shame,
For the wait she’s endured, but who’s really to blame?
On his own in the street, when your kid took a fall
But we’ll patch up your child and we won’t judge at all.
Your name gets called up and you’re finally seen,
Yet you carry on moaning about how long it’s been,
The nurse says she’s sorry, all watery eyed
She was comforting a parent whose child had just died.
Some folk are there, through no fault of their own
They’ve fell down the stairs or broken a bone
Some just have a cut or a graze to their head
Some OD’d on drugs, which one first gets a bed?
Ten hours into shift, staff not yet had a break
Hungry and thirsty and every limb has an ache
And the patients keep coming, though some needn’t be there
But they won’t turn you away, they’ll continue to care.
So next time you’re all moaning about our NHS
Just remember it’s not staff’s fault it’s in such a mess
They are doing a job that a lot couldn’t do
Often working for a pittance to help folk like you.
And remember if this was some other country
That doesn’t get free treatment, then where would we be?
In times of an illness or when we feel in distress
We should all be SO grateful for our NHS
Darren Christian
Image Credits: Rye News Library .